U.S. patent number 8,038,466 [Application Number 12/952,800] was granted by the patent office on 2011-10-18 for power receptacle with enlarged heat dissipation path formed on mating face and power connector assembly thereof.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Alltop Electronics (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. Invention is credited to Yung-Chih Hung, Kuo-Cheng Liu, Hung-Chi Tai, Wang-I Yu.
United States Patent |
8,038,466 |
Tai , et al. |
October 18, 2011 |
Power receptacle with enlarged heat dissipation path formed on
mating face and power connector assembly thereof
Abstract
A power connector assembly includes mateable power receptacle
and power plug. The power receptacle includes an insulative housing
and a number of receptacle power contacts received in the
insulative housing. The insulative housing includes a mating
surface, a mounting surface, a first slot recessed from the first
mating surface, and a first through hole extending through the
mounting surface to be exposed to an exterior. The first through
hole is in communication with the first slot in order to form a
heat dissipation path for eliminating heat generated by the
receptacle power contacts.
Inventors: |
Tai; Hung-Chi (Jhonghe,
TW), Liu; Kuo-Cheng (Jhonghe, TW), Yu;
Wang-I (Jhonghe, TW), Hung; Yung-Chih (Jhonghe,
TW) |
Assignee: |
Alltop Electronics (Suzhou) Co.,
Ltd (Taicang, Jiangsu Province, CN)
|
Family
ID: |
44773288 |
Appl.
No.: |
12/952,800 |
Filed: |
November 23, 2010 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Sep 13, 2010 [CN] |
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2010 1 0279501 |
Sep 13, 2010 [CN] |
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2010 1 0279503 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
439/485;
439/206 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
12/7082 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01R
4/60 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;439/485,206 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Paumen; Gary F.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sughrue Mion, PLLC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A power receptacle comprising: an insulative housing comprising
a base and a mating portion protruding from the base along a first
direction, the mating portion comprising a first mating surface for
mating with a complementary connector, an upper surface, a lower
surface and a first slot recessed into the mating portion from the
first mating surface, the first slot extending through at least one
of the upper and the lower surfaces of the mating portion along a
second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the base
comprising a first mounting surface opposite to the first mating
surface; and a plurality of receptacle power contacts received in
the insulative housing; wherein the insulative housing further
defines a first through hole throughout the first mounting surface
to be exposed to an exterior, the first through hole being in
communication with the first slot in order to form a heat
dissipation path for eliminating heat generated by the receptacle
power contacts.
2. The power receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first
slot extends through both the upper and the lower surfaces.
3. The power receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first
slot is narrow in width and extends along a vertical direction.
4. The power receptacle as claimed in claim 3, wherein the mating
portion comprises opposite first and second side surfaces and a
second slot recessed into the mating portion from the first mating
surface, the second slot extending through at least one of the
first and the second side surfaces and being in communication with
the first slot.
5. The power receptacle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second
slot extends through both the first and the second side surfaces
along a horizontal direction, and the first and the second slots
are crossed.
6. The power receptacle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the
insulative housing defines a plurality of contact passageways in
communication with the second slot in order to receive the
receptacle power contacts, each receptacle power contact comprising
a pair of contacting arms residing in the corresponding contact
passageways and a mounting portion extending beyond the first
mounting surface.
7. The power receptacle as claimed in claim 6, wherein the
insulative housing defines a mounting depression recessed from the
first mounting surface to receive an organizer which defines a
plurality of positioning holes for the mounting portions of the
receptacle power contacts extending therethrough, and a heat
dissipation hole aligned with the first through hole.
8. The power receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
insulative housing defines a plurality of first heat dissipation
passageways extending through the upper and the lower surfaces of
the mating portion, the first heat dissipation passageways being in
communication with the receptacle power contacts and further
extending throughout the first mounting surface.
9. The power receptacle as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first
heat dissipation passageways are further recessed into the base
along the second direction in order to enlarge the first heat
dissipation passageways.
10. A power connector comprising: an insulative housing comprising
a base, a mating portion protruding from the base along a first
direction and a plurality of contact passageways, the mating
portion comprising a first mating surface for mating with a
complementary connector, an upper surface, a lower surface and a
first slot recessed into the mating portion from the first mating
surface, the first slot extending through at least one of the upper
and the lower surfaces of the mating portion along a second
direction perpendicular to the first direction, the base comprising
a first mounting surface opposite to the first mating surface; and
a plurality of power contacts received in the contact passageways;
wherein the mating portion further defines a first heat dissipation
passageway extending through at least one of the upper and the
lower surfaces, the first heat dissipation passageway being in
communication with the corresponding contact passageway and further
extending through the mounting surface to be exposed to an
exterior, and wherein heat generated by the receptacle power
contacts can be eliminated to the exterior via the first slot and
the first heat dissipation passageway.
11. The power connector as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first
slot is narrow in width and extends through both the upper and the
lower surfaces along a vertical direction.
12. The power connector as claimed in claim 11, wherein the mating
portion comprises opposite first and second side surfaces and a
second slot recessed into the mating portion from the first mating
surface, the second slot extending through at least one of the
first and the second side surfaces and being in communication with
the first slot.
13. The power connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein the second
slot extends through both the first and the second side surfaces
along a horizontal direction, and the first and the second slots
are crossed.
14. The power connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
plurality of contact passageways are in communication with the
second slot, each power contact comprising a pair of contacting
arms residing in the corresponding contact passageways and a
mounting portion extending beyond the first mounting surface.
15. The power connector as claimed in claim 10, wherein the
insulative housing defines a first through hole in communication
with the first slot, the first through hole being perpendicular to
the first slot and extending through the first mounting
surface.
16. A power connector assembly comprising: a power receptacle and a
power plug mateable with each other, the power receptacle
comprising: a first insulative housing comprising a mating portion,
a first mounting surface opposite to the mating portion, and a
plurality of contact passageways, the mating portion comprising a
first mating surface for mating with the power plug, an upper
surface and a lower surface; and a plurality of receptacle power
contacts received in the contact passageways; the power plug
comprising: a second insulative housing comprising a second mating
surface, a second mounting surface and a receiving chamber recessed
from the second mating surface to accommodate the mating portion of
the first insulative housing; and a plurality of plug power
contacts fixed to the second insulative housing for abutting
against the receptacle power contacts; wherein the mating portion
defines a first slot recessed from the first mating surface and a
first heat dissipation passageway extending through at least one of
the upper and the lower surfaces of the mating portion, the first
slot extending through at least one of the upper and the lower
surfaces of the mating portion, the first heat dissipation
passageway being in communication with the corresponding contact
passageway and further extending through the first mounting surface
to be exposed to an exterior; and wherein the second insulative
housing defines a second heat dissipation passageway in
communication with the receiving chamber, the second heat
dissipation passageway further extending through the second
mounting surface to be exposed to the exterior, and wherein the
first and the second heat dissipation passageways are in
communication with each other, and heat generated by the receptacle
power contact and the plug power contact can be dissipated to the
exterior through the first and the second heat dissipation
passageways together with the first slot.
17. The power connector assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein
each receptacle power contact comprises a pair of contacting arms
residing in the corresponding contact passageway, and each plug
power contact comprises a flat contacting portion clipped by the
contacting arms.
18. The power connector assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein
the second heat dissipation passageway is located over the first
heat dissipation passageway within a length of the receiving
chamber along a horizontal direction.
19. The power connector assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein
the first insulative housing defines a first through hole forwardly
in communication with the first slot and backwardly extending
through the first mounting surface to be exposed to the exterior,
and the second insulative housing comprises a second through hole
communicating with the receiving chamber and further extending
through the second mounting surface to be exposed to the exterior,
the first through hole and the second through hole being in
communication and aligned with each other.
20. The power connector assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein
the second insulative housing comprises a front surface exposed to
the receiving chamber into which the plug power contacts protrude;
and wherein when the first insulative housing is fully received in
the receiving chamber of the second insulative housing, the first
mating surface and the front surface are spaced a distance from
each other together with the first slot to form an inner heat
dissipation channel which is in communication with the first and
the second heat dissipation passageways.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power receptacle and a power
connector assembly thereof, and more particularly to a power
receptacle and a power connector assembly thereof with enlarged
heat dissipation path formed on a mating surface.
2. Description of Related Art
Mateable power receptacle and power plug are commonly used for
power transmission. It is known that heat is generated by impedance
of power contacts during power transmission. Nowadays, more and
more electronic devices need heavy power to work, and power
connector assemblies which can endure high current are accordingly
needed. Heat dissipation becomes one of the most annoying problems
in connector design. If the heat is limited in insulative housings
of the power connector assembly, and cannot be eliminated timely,
the insulative housings might be burnt. Besides, mateable contact
portions of contacts of the power connector assembly might melt.
The high temperature once monitored by the client-side will crash
the electronic devices. Bad heat dissipation may result in security
problems for the worse.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,598 B2 issued to Holmes et al. on Feb. 7, 2006
discloses a traditional power connector assembly. The power
connector assembly includes a male connector and a female connector
both provided with multiple power contacts retained in an
insulative housing. However, such power contacts are closed in the
insulative housings when the male connector and the female
connector are mated with each other for power transmission. As a
result, heat dissipation thereof is poor.
Hence, a power receptacle and a power connector assembly thereof
with improved heat dissipation path are needed to solve the above
problem.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a power connector assembly including
a power receptacle and a power plug for mating with the power
receptacle. The power receptacle includes a first insulative
housing and a plurality of receptacle power contacts received in
the first insulative housing. The first insulative housing includes
a base and a mating portion protruding from the base along a first
direction. The mating portion comprises a first mating surface for
mating with the power plug, an upper surface, a lower surface and a
first slot recessed into the mating portion from the first mating
surface. The first slot extends through at least one of the upper
and the lower surfaces of the mating portion along a second
direction perpendicular to the first direction. The base has a
first mounting surface opposite to the first mating surface. The
insulative housing further defines a first through hole throughout
the first mounting surface to be exposed to an exterior. The first
through hole is in communication with the first slot in order to
form a heat dissipation path for eliminating heat generated by the
receptacle power contacts.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and
technical advantages of the present invention in order that the
detailed description of the invention that follows may be better
understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention
will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims
of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The features of this invention which are believed to be novel are
set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention,
together with its objects and the advantages thereof, may be best
understood by reference to the following description taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference
numerals identify like elements in the figures and in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a power connector assembly in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the power connector assembly
similar to FIG. 1, but taken from another aspect;
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a power connector assembly with a
power receptacle separated from a power plug;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the power receptacle;
FIG. 5 is a front view of the power receptacle as shown in FIG.
4;
FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the power receptacle as shown in FIG.
4;
FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the power receptacle as shown in FIG.
4;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the power plug;
FIG. 9 is another perspective view of the power plug as shown in
FIG. 8, but taken from a different aspect;
FIG. 10 is a partly exploded view of the power plug as shown in
FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the power connector assembly
taken along a first cross section;
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the power connector assembly
taken along a second cross section;
FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the power connector assembly
taken along a third cross section; and
FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the power connector assembly
taken along a fourth cross section.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe the
embodiments of the present invention in detail. In the following
description, the same drawing reference numerals are used for the
same elements in different drawings.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a power connector assembly 300 according
to an embodiment of the present invention includes a power
receptacle 100 and a power plug 200 mateable with the power
receptacle 100 for power transmission.
Referring to FIGS. 3 to 7, the power receptacle 100 includes a
receptacle insulative housing 1, a plurality of receptacle power
contacts 2 received in the insulative housing 1, and an organizer 3
mounted to the insulative housing 1 for organizing the receptacle
contacts 2.
The insulative housing 1 includes a base 11 and a mating portion 12
protruding from a front surface 113 of the base 11 along a first
direction. The base 11 includes a top wall 111, a bottom wall 112
and a first mounting surface 114 opposite to the front surface 113.
Besides, the base 11 further defines a plurality of positioning
depressions 115 recessed from the front surface 113 for guiding
insertion of the power plug 200, and a mounting depression 116
recessed from the first mounting surface 114 for receiving the
organizer 3. The mating portion 12 is contractive with respect to
the base 11 and includes an upper surface 121, a lower surface 122,
a first side surface 120a, a second side surface 120b and a first
mating surface 123. The first and the second side surfaces 120a,
120b are perpendicular to the upper and the lower surfaces 121,
122. The first mating surface 123 is parallel to the first mounting
surface 114 and is perpendicular to the first and the second side
surfaces 120a, 120b and the upper and the lower surfaces 121, 122.
The top wall 111 and the bottom wall 112 are located outside of the
upper surface 121 and the lower surface 122 along a vertical
direction, respectively.
The insulative housing 1 further includes a plurality of contact
passageways 124 extending along the first direction for receiving
the receptacle power contacts 2. Besides, a plurality of first
through holes 125 are defined through the first mounting surface
114 to be exposed an exterior. The first through holes 125 are
parallel to the contact passageways 124. The first through holes
125 are round according to the illustrated embodiment of the
present invention. However, it is easy to be understood that the
first through holes 125 can be of other shapes such as rectangle,
ellipse etc.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, according to the preferred embodiment
of the present invention, both the upper surface 121 and the lower
surface 122 define a plurality of first heat dissipation
passageways 126 in communication with the corresponding contact
passageways 124. Alternatively, the first heat dissipation
passageways 126 can be selectively formed on the upper surface 121
and the lower surface 122. Each first heat dissipation passageway
126 extends along the first direction and further extends through
the first mounting surface 114 along the first direction to be
exposed to the exterior. Each first heat dissipation passageway 126
is further recessed into the base 11 along the vertical direction
in order to enlarge the dimension thereof for robust heat
dissipation effect. The first heat dissipation passageways 126
formed on the upper surface 121 are aligned with the corresponding
first heat dissipation passageways 126 formed on the lower surface
122 along the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the first
heat dissipation passageways 126 do not extend throughout the first
mating surface 123 in order to in order to ensure the intensity of
the insulative housing 1 for assembling the receptacle power
contacts 2.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the mating portion 12 defines a
plurality of slots 127 recessed into the mating portion 12 from the
first mating surface 123. The slots 127 include a plurality of
first slots 128 and a plurality of second slots 129 intersecting
the first slots 128. The first slots 128 are narrow in width and
extend along the vertical direction perpendicular to the first
direction. The second slots 129 extend along a horizontal direction
perpendicular to the first direction as well. Besides, the first
and the second slots 128, 129 are crossed and in communication with
each other. According to the illustrated embodiment of the present
invention, the first slots 128 extend through both the upper and
the lower surfaces 121, 122, and the second slots 129 extend
through both the first and the second side surfaces 120a, 120b.
Alternatively, the first slots 128 extend through at least one of
the upper and the lower surfaces 121, 122, and the second slots 129
extend through at one of the first and the second side surfaces
120a, 120b.
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the first through holes 125 are in
communication with the corresponding first slots 128 along the
first direction. Since the first slots 128 extend forwardly through
the first mating surface 123, and the first through holes 125
extend backwardly through the first mounting surface 114, the first
slots 128 and the first through holes 125 jointly form a first heat
dissipation path for dissipating the receptacle power contacts 2.
Besides, heat generated by the receptacle power contacts 2 can also
be dissipated via a second heat dissipation path formed by the
first slots 128 and the first heat dissipation passageways 126.
As shown in FIG. 7, each receptacle power contact 2 includes a
U-shaped retaining portion 21, a pair of elastic contacting arms 22
extending forwardly from opposite upper and lower sides of the
retaining portion 21, and a first mounting portion 23 extending
backwardly from the retaining portion 21. The contacting arms 22
reside in the corresponding contact passageways 124 and do not
extend beyond the first mating surface 123. The first mounting
portions 23 extend beyond the first mounting surface 114 for being
soldered to a PCB.
The organizer 3 is rectangular and defines a plurality of
positioning holes 31 for the first mounting portions 23 of the
receptacle power contacts 2 extending therethrough, and a plurality
of heat dissipation holes 32 aligned with the corresponding first
through holes 125.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the power plug 200 includes a plug
insulative housing 4 and a plurality of plug power contacts 5 fixed
to the insulative housing 4. The insulative housing 4 includes a
base portion 41 and a mating portion 42 protruding from the base
portion 41 along the first direction. The mating portion 42
includes a top wall 421, a bottom wall 422, a pair of side walls
423 connecting the top wall 421 and the bottom wall 422, a second
mating surface 424 perpendicular to the top wall 421 and the bottom
wall 422, and a receiving chamber 425 recessed from the second
mating surface 424. The base portion 41 includes a front surface
411 exposed to the receiving chamber 425, a second mounting surface
412 opposite to the front surface 411, and a plurality of second
through holes 413 extending through the front surface 411 and the
second mounting surface 412. Each second through hole 413 is of the
same configuration of the first through holes 125 and is aligned
with the corresponding first through holes 125 along the first
direction.
Referring to FIGS. 8 and 10, according to the embodiment of the
present invention, inner sides of both the top wall 421 and the
bottom wall 422 define a plurality of second heat dissipation
passageways 43 in communication with the receiving chamber 425.
Alternatively, the second heat dissipation passageways 43 can be
selectively formed on the inner side of the top wall 421 and the
bottom wall 422. Each second heat dissipation passageway 43
linearly extend through the second mounting surface 412 to be
exposed to the exterior. Besides, the second heat dissipation
passageways 43 are further recessed into the base portion 41 along
the vertical direction in order to enlarge the dimensions
thereof.
The insulative housing 4 includes a plurality of protrusions 426
extending beyond the second mating surface 424 for mating with the
positioning depressions 115 of the power receptacle 1.
As shown in FIG. 10, each plug power contact 5 includes a flat
second contacting portion 51 extending into the receiving chamber
425, and a second mounting portion 52 extending through the second
mounting surface 412.
As shown in FIGS. 11 to 14, when the power receptacle 100 is fully
received in the receiving chamber 425 of the power plug 200, each
second contacting portion 51 is clipped by the first contacting
arms 22. Since most heat generated by the power receptacle contacts
2 and the plug power contacts 5 occurs nearby the contacting areas,
the heat can be dissipated via the first and the second heat
dissipation passageways 126, 43 which are exposed to the exterior
through the first and the second mounting surfaces 114, 412 along
the first direction. Besides, the heat can also be dissipated to
the exterior via the first and the second slots 128, 129 together
with the first and the second through holes 125, 413 which are
exposed to the exterior through the first and the second mounting
surfaces 114, 412. As shown in FIG. 12, within a length of the
receiving chamber 425 along the first direction, the second heat
dissipation passageways 43 are located over the first heat
dissipation passageways 126. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the first
mating surface 123 of the power receptacle 100 is spaced a distance
from the front surface 411 of the power plug 200 in order to form
an inner heat dissipation channel 6 which is in communication with
the first and the second slots 128, 129. As shown in FIGS. 11 to
14, under this arrangement, robust airflow occurs through the inner
heat dissipation channel 6 to expedite heat dissipation. Moreover,
the first through holes 125 are aligned and in communication with
the second through holes 413 along the first direction for heat
dissipation as well. As a result, both the receptacle insulative
housing 1 and the plug insulative housing 4 can be prevented from
being burnt and unrecoverable high deformation, as well as the
power receptacle contacts 2 and the plug power contacts 5. Besides,
when the inner dissipation channel 6 is narrow, flowing heat in the
first and the second heat dissipation passageways 126, 43 can enter
into the first and the second through holes 125, 413 to be
ultimately dissipated to the exterior, via the first slots 128.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous,
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the disclosed is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of number, shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
* * * * *